APPLICATION FOR ARTIST MEMBERSHIP
RHINO COMTEMPORARY CRAFTS COMPANY
333 Canal St., Suite 309 NOLA 70130 504-523-7945
Last Name _____________________________First Name ___________________
Street Address: ______________________________________________________
Mailing Address: ____________________________________________________
Phone: (day) ______________________ (evening) ________________________
(cell) ______________________ (alternate contact) __________________
Fax: _____________ e-mail __________________ website __________________
Medium/description (list all mediums and please be specific):
__________________________________________________________________
Collaborators: ______________________________________________________
Application Check List:
___ Completed entry form with signature
___ New Member Volunteer Survey
___ A photo of your work attached to the form to be retained by RHINO
___ $20 non-refundable jury fee (make check payable to RHINO)
___ 5 photographs, and/or CD of your work with descriptions attached
___ Price list
___ Artist’s resume
___ Artist’s Statement
I, the undersigned have read the entire application and I agree to all stated terms of
application and membership. Unsigned or incomplete applications will not be
reviewed.
Signature________________________________ Date_____________
Mail completed application with attachments to: RHINO, ATTN: New Member Application,
333 Canal St., Suite 309, NOLA 70130. Applications must be received no later than 3 weeks
prior to the first Monday of the next month in order to be considered for review at our next
membership meeting. Applications may be delivered in person.
RHINO KEEPS THIS PAGE.
ATTACH PHOTO OF WORK HERE.
Rev. 7/16/08
Date/Received By_____________________________ Gallery Liaison Contacted? _________
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RHINO Contemporary Crafts Co. - Membership Agreement
RHINO Contemporary Crafts Company is a non-profit cooperative whose purpose is to expand public
knowledge and stimulate public awareness of contemporary crafts and to promote the welfare and
development of Louisiana artists and craftspeople.
Artist membership is open in the following categories: clay, fiber, wood, glass, metal, jewelry, leather, sculpture,
paper, and mixed media. Two dimensional work, paintings drawings, photography, and graphics are not accepted in
the initial jury process. These may be later allowed as an extension of the craftsperson’s body of work.
MEMBESHIP REQUIREMENTS:
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All applicants must be residents of Louisiana or the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
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All artist members are required to do volunteer work! All in-coming artists are required to spend the
required number of full days (open till close) per month in the gallery as “Artist on Duty” to meet the
public and assist in sales. This number may vary, according to our staffing needs, and is affected by our
membership numbers, seasonal variations in our business hours, and special events, and is never less than
two. Volunteering is part of our non-profit mission to the public and enable the gallery to function on a day
to day basis. RHINO is a cooperative, and our success depends on the full participation of our
membership to fulfill the needs of the organization; i.e. gallery shop work, maintenance and sales,
committee work, community outreach, and fundraising.
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Members are required to attend the monthly business meetings held on the first Monday of each month.
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To receive base commission, members must volunteer a minimum of eighteen hours or two full days a
month performing sales in the gallery, serve on a minimum of one committee during the year, and devote at
least 10 hours annually to RHINO sponsored community outreach projects. Information will be provided
on any incentives offered for volunteerism beyond the minimum number of hours of basic membership.
Review schedule: Applications for Artist membership are reviewed monthly, (except in December) at the
membership meeting. COMPLETE applications must be received no less than 3 weeks prior to the next
Monthly General Membership Meeting in order for your work to be reviewed at that meeting.
Criteria:
- Only clay, fiber, wood, glass, metal, jewelry, leather, sculpture, paper, and mixed media are acceptable
crafts. Two dimensional work, paintings, drawings, photography, and graphics will not be juried.
- Guidelines for review are: artistic merit, quality of craftsmanship and design originality. Work should
be well conceived and well executed without technical flaws and reflect the unique vision of the
craftsperson.
- All work must be the original design of the craftsperson and hand-crafted by the craftsperson or with
apprentices under the direct supervision of the craftsperson.
- Any craft which takes a material and changes it into an entirely different shape, design, form or function is
acceptable as a hand crafted item.
- Commercially mass produced items, kit items, strung beads, and T-shirts are not acceptable.
- Work that is too similar to crafts currently in the gallery will not be considered. We may also limit the
number of artists working in a particular medium or genre to allow space in the gallery for others.
- While salability is a consideration, it is not in itself criteria for acceptance. Many salable crafts are not
suitable for a fine crafts gallery. For this reason, some craft items are not accepted into RHINO. Eg: work
comprised primarily of Mardi Gras beads, beer cans, and some other materials.
APPLICANT KEEPS THIS PAGE
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RHINO Contemporary Crafts Co. Membership Agreement
Application for Review:
Please include a retail price list, CD, and/or photographs representative of the body of work that you intend to
exhibit. Label each photo or CD with your name. Indicate the medium, dimensions, and retail price for each
piece. Include a resume, artist statement, completed entry form, New Member Volunteer Survey, and a nonrefundable jury fee of $20. (Make check or money order payable to RHINO.) If your work is collaboration, all
names must be included on the application. Attach one photograph of your work to the entry form. This photo
will be kept for gallery files.
Review Process:
Phase One: Notification of preliminary acceptance or rejection after review of application materials.
Upon timely receipt of your application, you will be contacted with the date , time and location to show your
work to be reviewed by the membership. For each medium you must submit three to five pieces that are good
examples of your work. Please be prepared to give a brief presentation (no more than 5 minutes) describing
your work, followed by a five minute Q&A session with members. Applicants will then be excused to allow for
critique of your work, voting, and the completion of the remaining agenda for that business meeting. Expect to
leave your work until meeting adjournment. NOTE: RHINO Contemporary Crafts Co. is not responsible for
any damage or loss incurred to items submitted for review. Please bring you work in a box or other protective
packaging. Make sure it is labeled with your name, medium, and phone number. We will respect all of the
work that is brought in for review and will treat it as carefully as possible. If you cannot return that day to pick
up your work, other arrangements will be made. Within 10 days of your presentation, you will receive
notification of preliminary acceptance, conditional acceptance, or non-acceptance. Please do not call the
RHINO Gallery for results. If you receive a non-acceptance notice, you may receive comments on reasons why
your work was not accepted. Upon taking these suggestions into consideration, you may reapply without an
additional application fee.
Phase Two: Interview. If your work is accepted, you will be contacted by the Gallery Liaison to set up an
interview. You will be asked to go over the Membership Volunteer Survey you submitted with your application
in order to determine the nature and extent of your commitment to volunteer service. Final acceptance will be
determined after this interview. Effective January 2007, there is a 90 day trial period for new applicants.
If membership is terminated by RHINO or the artist, annual dues are refundable. Membership is a
commitment to volunteer.
Conditions of Membership:
Accepted artists are required to have copies of photos of their work, (in digital format preferred), resumes, and
artist statements for the RHINO artists’ files. Images may be used for promotional material with proper credit
to the artist. You will also need to write a “bio” to be displayed with your work. Sufficient inventory must be
ready to be displayed in the gallery immediately, but in no case later than 30 days after final acceptance and
notification. Upon receipt of your work, your signed release will be kept on file.
All craftspeople exhibiting work in the Gallery or kiosk must be Exhibiting Members of RHINO. New
members must pay their annual membership dues of $75 (prorated monthly) and be signed up on the monthly
schedule before they may exhibit their work. Accepted applicants will be contacted by the Gallery Liaison who
will provide training information and materials regarding RHINO Contemporary Crafts Company Policy and
Procedures.
It is the policy of RHINO Contemporary Crafts Co. that exhibiting artists not place work in the same genre with
other retail outlets in the Canal Place complex. All exhibiting artists must maintain the high quality of
craftsmanship for which he or she was initially accepted. Work that is considered “not to RHINO standards” by
the standards committee will be removed from display, and the artist notified immediately. All work displayed
in the Gallery must be consistent with the work that was originally submitted for review. Any new body of
work or work which does not conform to that which was originally juried in will be removed. Thank you for
your interest in RHINO, and we hope to see you at our next membership meeting!
APPLICANT KEEPS THIS PAGE
Rev. 7/16/08
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